The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Jason Aronowitz:

I wonder what the differences, small at the time of the Civil War, have become in Alternate Keegan's original world? I wager that he seems disoriented, and stares at his daily paper in amazement.

"Reading the back of cereal boxes" reminded me of Chex Press, so I googled it. First hit was "Making Light" in 2003. The relevant post was John M. Ford's (#23).

I don't post much, but I'd like to thank everyone that shared a relevant personal story in this thread.

Lizzy @ 69: No, I was not referring to Kaiser. I was snarking a bit about non-profits because some think that non-profits necessarily prioritize their function over the good of the people running them. Sometimes true, sometimes not.

There are many non-profits run by dedicated people doing excellent work. Some are run by nest-featherers and empire builders. Some see themselves as doing good work and reward themselves too much for it. I work in state government and see state money going to many non-profits. In aggregate, that's a good thing. But some of those people pay themselves too much for what they do.

Non-profit: An organization where what would otherwise be profits are paid as salaries and expenses.

And your return trip would be a home run.

Caroline @ 6,

Hugo, girl!

Serge @200: Is that an order?

Openthreadiness - Here's what happens when an author spends a little _too_ much time designing a language for his aliens:

http://www.ai-institute.org/index.htm

Does anyone here have a higher work/home walkability spread? 98 to 0 here.

My work location is Montpelier, Vermont. I don't quite think it should be a 98. Everything is in walking distance, certainly, and the density of cool stuff is high, but it's SMALL. On a long walk, I pass the same things over and over.

Home is two miles to the general store via dirt road. "Dirt" really means either frozen and snow-covered, or axle-deep mud, so I'm not sure it's drivable either.

I have long been an admirer of M.A. Foster's SF. The Morphodite and Ler trilogies have been reissued and available at Amazon for a couple of years now, but I neglected to speak up here with a recommendation. It is good stuff with a unique style.

Mr. Foster also occasionally writes about comics here: http://www.acmecomics.com/node/70

and that particular column gives his contact information. If you like his work, let him know.

#806 - It sounds fine, if you have a tin ear.

Thanks to Albatross for some excellent posts.

SamChevre @#68:
That makes sense. Ignoring health care, is the statement accurate for retirement costs? I recall companies in the 1980's assuming something close to 15% long term investment returns for their defined benefit obligations.

Somewhat on-topic, there is a, to me, significant difference in today's coverage of the auto bailout by the Washington Post and the NY Times. The Times explicitly mentions how much of the difference in “hourly compensation†between Detroit and the foreign-run plants is due to Detroit’s costs for health care and retirement for currently retired workers. Neither paper mentions that this difference exists because the Detroit companies were allowed not to reserve adequately during the years those liabilities were incurred.

Today’s NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/business/13uaw.html?_r=1&hp
In 2007, the U.A.W. agreed to sharply lower starting wages and benefits for newly hired autoworkers at the Detroit companies, as well as for workers in jobs away from the assembly line, like janitors and maintenance personnel.
But the cuts did not affect most long-time union members, whose hourly pay and compensation is about $55 an hour. The figure ranges above $70 an hour when the automakers’ costs for health care for retired workers and retirement benefits is factored in.
By contrast, workers in plants run by foreign companies in the United States earn about $45 an hour, and the nonunion companies do not have the hefty burdens for future “legacy costs†that are faced by the Detroit companies.
And the WaPo:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121201232_4.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR&sid=ST2008121201385&s_pos=
The negotiations were based on a plan advanced by Corker, the most junior member of the Banking Committee. His proposal sought to reduce the wages and benefits of union workers by requiring the automakers' total labor costs to be "on par" with Honda and Toyota.
Corker -- a freshman senator who a few years ago was mayor of Chattanooga -- was a strong opponent of the House plan to save the automakers.
He and other Republicans had revolted against the earlier plan because they thought it did not go far enough in forcing contracts on the UAW. GM officials have told Congress, for instance, that under the most recent contract, labor costs would be about $62 per hour in 2010 -- $30 per hour in wages and slightly more than that in benefits to current workers and retirees. That's about $14 per hour more than at Toyota's U.S. plants.

Abi @ #18:

Cross references between Hillerman and Zelazny? I managed to miss all of them. Help, please, if you have a moment.

(Possible excuses: I read Eye_of_Cat a long time ago, before any Hillerman. And I "read" most Hillerman via the excellent* Guidall-narrated audio books.)

*Yes, that's a recommendation.

Ginger @65: If you have to recover an RFID from another dimension, be sure to pull it out the same way it went in. Otherwise, you will have a DIFR.

This is not germaine to anything being discussed right now, but:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/economy/20view.html

This is a NY Times article on means testing for Medicare. See how many errors you can find!

#123 - Debbie, I read that the same way, and started to consider an alternate universe plot wherein Emperor Norton was a brewer.

#92 - Round midnight, I'll be having a Trois Pistoles. Straight, no chaser.

#102 - Slightly cooler than US room temperature is ideal. Too warm, and you may get too much foam. Too cold, and some of the flavors will be subdued*.

*This is why there is no such thing as "too cold" for a Bud**.

**If the Bud is too cold to be poured, this can be considered a further improvement.

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